Workout Wednesday: Powerful Legs

Anywhere Exercise to Truly Increase Leg Strength

More often than not the legs are the part of the body that usually get ignored when it comes to working out and exercise. This is likely because most leg workouts are intimidating and downright difficult.

Granted, working out any part of the body is always going to be a bit challenging, but it doesn't necessarily have to be scary! Using only your body weight and some practice you can build up leg strength, balance, and power with this one workout.

I'm talking about one legged squats. To do this workout you must simply practice this move which will in turn give you the above results.

To begin the workout, you stand on one foot with the opposite leg out in front parallel to the floor. Keep your hands out in front to help with the balance and then slowly squat down as if sitting in a low chair. Once you have almost reached the floor, come back up. This is one rep!

• Don't forget to alternate legs so they both get an equal workout!

• If you are having trouble start out slowly! Practice normal squats with both legs then build up to one leg.
• Once you are at one leg squats, try building up from there as well by not going down as far until you have mastered the move and built up more strength.

• You may consider using a swiss ball against a flat wall to help "roll" down into the squat position.

• Always be careful when doing this move and do not perform this exercise if you have bad knees!

Once mastered and utilized as part of your regular fitness regimen, you will see that this move can truly increase leg strength as well as flexibility, balance, power, speed, and more.

Good luck!

Training Tip Tuesdays: Easy Way to Tighten Your Abs

Tighten Your Lips for Tighter Abs

The specific fitness tip I am about to present you may have heard of before but it is a great tip nonetheless. The great thing about this little "secret" is that it takes absolutely no special thinking/training/equipment at all!

Enough with the introduction though, here is the actual tip to achieve tighter abs: While doing any abdominal exercise, purse your lips together and blow out as if trying to whistle.

That's it! Pretty simple huh? The reason why this works is because this body motion naturally contracts and tightens your core region with ease. Go ahead try it right now, while sitting in your chair reading this tighten your lips and blow out air. Do you feel your abs getting tighter?

If used will doing crunches, sit ups, push ups, etc. you will really start to feel the burn and a major difference with just this little change.

So next time you are knocking out a few crunches or whatnot try this little secret tip to really add a little more intensity to your ab workout.

Best of luck to you!

Shannon